Effort optimism is the confidence that acquiring the skills valued by the majority of society, such as those skills measured by IQ tests, ACT, and SATs, are worthwhile. This outlook is grounded on different cultural belief systems that link effort with success. Effort and success Effort optimism refers to how strongly a student believes their hard work/effort in school will pay off with academic/school success. This is reinforced by the maxim that "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again." A strong conviction generally results in greater success and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, reinforcing that belief. When that conviction is weak or nonexistent, students generally experience less success, which reinforces the belief that effort doesn't matter. Lack of effort optimism has often been described as an important part of the achievement gap between students with majority and minority backgrounds in the American educational system. Among minorities, parents are said to articulate a strong belief in education and its role in getting ahead but communicate an ambivalence about whether society will really reward school achievement. In this interpretation, minority students under-achieve because they have no confidence that performing well in the school system will, in fact, help them advance socially in the face of perceived discrimination. Causes of Effort Optimism Since before the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954, minorities (mostly African American, Hispanic, and Native American students) have not been presented with educational opportunities equal to those of white Americans. A study conducted during the 2002-03 school year showed that the number of Blacks and Hispanics enrolled in public schools was more than triple the number of Whites. The majority of these schools were in high poverty areas, like Chicago, IL, and Detroit, MI. Most of these schools do not have equal educational resources either. In predominantly white US School Districts, spending on educational resources, such as highly qualified teachers, Advanced Placement courses, and updated textbooks, is, on average, 10 times higher. Even Black and Hispanic students whose scores on standardized academic tracking tests were equal to those of Whites were more likely to be placed in lower course levels than Whites were. The inequality present within the educational system poses a real threat to the future of minority students. Another factor in effort optimism is the concept of Stereotype threat, which describes the process of one's fear of confirming a negative stereotype leading that individual